{"id":35881,"date":"2018-06-20T15:44:42","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T15:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/06\/20\/air-force-leadership-dont-expect-immediate-space-force-changes\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:54:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:54:53","slug":"air-force-leadership-dont-expect-immediate-space-force-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2018\/06\/20\/air-force-leadership-dont-expect-immediate-space-force-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force leadership: Don\u2019t expect immediate Space Force changes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 As the Defense Department <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/06\/18\/trump-orders-creation-of-independent-space-force\/\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\">begins work to establish a \u201cSpace Force,\u201d<\/a> top <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/03\/14\/trump-touting-space-force-puts-air-force-in-awkward-spot\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Air Force leaders are reassuring airmen<\/a> that the process will take some time and that immediate, drastic changes will not occur, according to a June 19 memo distributed across the force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis work directed by the president will be a thorough, deliberate, and inclusive process,\u201d stated the memo, which was signed by Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, Chief of Staff Dave Goldfein and Chief Master Sergeant Kaleth Wright. It was originally posted on the Air Force amn\/nco\/snco Facebook page before being obtained by Defense News and other outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs such, we should not expect any immediate moves or changes. Our focus must remain on the mission as we continue to accelerate the space warfighting capabilities required to support the National Defense Strategy,\u201d the letter continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2018\/06\/19\/trump-wants-a-space-force-now-what\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-977952058.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump wants a Space Force. Now what?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">How do you build a new military service from scratch?<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to begin setting up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/05\/01\/trump-again-teases-space-force-as-the-sixth-military-branch\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">a sixth branch of the military<\/a> \u2014 a \u201cSpace Force\u201d that would be \u201cseparate but equal\u201d to the Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen it comes to space, too often, for too many years, dreams of exploration and discovery were really squandered by politics and bureaucracy, and we knocked that out,\u201d Trump said Monday at a meeting of the National Space Council, according to a White House pool report. \u201cWe don\u2019t want China and Russia and other countries leading us. We\u2019ve always led. We\u2019ve gone way far afield for decades now.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The announcement was somewhat shocking. Although the Defense Department was slated to complete an interim report on whether to establish a space service earlier this month, Pentagon and Air Force leaders \u2014 including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Wilson and Goldfein \u2014 all had solidly opposed the idea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the time Congress was debating whether to create a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2017\/11\/21\/space-for-a-space-corps-congress-lays-groundwork-for-controversial-plan\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cSpace Corps,\u201d<\/a> Wilson and Goldfein stressed that moving space from the Air Force could impede the military\u2019s ability to fight in space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moving Trump\u2019s directive forward will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/04\/26\/lawmakers-propose-creating-new-us-space-command-in-defense-policy-bill\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">require congressional action<\/a> to change Title 10 of the U.S. Code. During the legislative process, lawmakers opposed to the new service could use previous comments by Mattis, Wilson and Goldfein to feed their own arguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the June 19 memo, Wilson, Goldfein and Wright framed Trump\u2019s proclamation as a continuation of Air Force talking points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPresident\u2019s statement to the National Space Council adds emphasis to the Air Force position &#8212; space is a warfighting domain and the entire national security space enterprise must continue to enhance lethality, resilience, and agility to meet the challenge posed by potential adversaries,\u201d the memo stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe look forward to working with Department of Defense leaders, Congress, and our national security partners to move forward on this planning effort.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a surprising announcement, Air 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